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the australian farmer
THE GLOBAL POTENTIAL FOR DIGITALLY-DRIVEN CHANGE IN AGRICULTURE Numerous recent research en- deavours and reports have highlighted this, including – • McKinsey ii , reporting Agri- culture to be the least digital of all sectors in the US and Australia, and major change to be inevit- able. As digitisation of business processes and supply chains will create economic growth, it can- not be ignored. • The World Bank concluded that data are our future iii , identifying the under- utilisation of existing data by society, and calling for a re-imagining of data usage and re-usage to forge eco- nomic and social value. • In Australia, AUD30B of change is expected iv , mainly through production gains in grains and livestock. In- vestment in Agri-food Tech is on a steep upward trajec- tory, with investment at the farm-gate end of the supply chain gaining momentum. • The World Economic Forum v highlights digital innovation in global food systems, discussing inclu- sive and sustainable food systems from the perspec- tives of technology (e.g. artificial intelligence and blockchain), as well as human decision making. • Lajoie-O’Malley and others vi point to the role of digital
technology for gains in food system sustainability, encouraging an ecosystem view of food systems and posits that ecosystems ser- vice researchers’ contribu- tions to digital agriculture advancements could result in a more responsible pro- vision of food to society.
from other areas. 3. Process failure is the most common cause, by far. This occurs when the system around the tech- nology (especially people and organisations) hasn’t been considered, and is what scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) call the ”Technology Fallacy”. PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS “Everybody is trying to figure out where the value is?” bemoaned a 2017 Wall Street Journal article about the disappointing adop- tion of digital agriculture in the US. So, what indeed are the path- ways to value and success? Let’s focus on some basics: • Value must be created - though this seems ob- vious, we sometimes find the technology so exciting that we forget to ask “how will it pay for itself?”; • Value must be shared be-
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Theory and practice don’t always align. In our experience, we’ve seen three types of failures: 1. User failure. Farmers or other users either aren’t in- terested in change, or don’t see enough value in the change to invest in it. This is the rarest type of failure. 2. Technology failure is still worryingly common. Sometimes the technol- ogy is just too difficult to get to work or expensive to manage. This type of failure often occurs when technology has been sim- ply transposed to farming
tween different actors - particularly along supply
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